I'm a Mental Health nurse who wants to get out of nursing....

Croatoan

I'm a Mental Health nurse who wants to get out of nursing. I've only been a nurse for 3 years, late career changer. I'm on a good wage (about £45k) and accept I'm unlikely to get that much doing anything else. I've a non-nursing degree: BA Hons first class from a good uni in 2004. I'm 50 with a family so long periods of training are out of the question, as is lengthy full-time training and jobs where age is, officially or unofficially, a barrier.
I don't want sales (tried it, didn't enjoy it, failed miserably) or target based work. I don't want to teach kids; adults maybe but not in FE.
I'd definitely consider self-employment/contract work as well as employed positions.
I've considered paying for training in hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, CBT, counselling, alternative medicine etc, though sorting out the cowboys can be difficult and it can take years to get genuine qualifications. I've also considered book keeping, ILEX, CompTIA, TEFL, trying to get a trade: plumbing, electrician etc though again it can take a long time and I reckon my age is definitely against me - plus I need to be earning, let's say, 20k from the start. I'm not quitting my job so re-training would need to run alongside it, or be short.
So I guess what I'm after is employment which either makes use of my qualifications, or would at least consider them to be worthy of offering work, but isn't nursing.
Any ideas?

bobajob_1966

Mental Health Support Worker at a university?

LittleVoice

Croatoan wrote: »

I'm a Mental Health nurse who wants to get out of nursing. I've only been a nurse for 3 years, late career changer. I'm on a good wage (about £45k) and accept I'm unlikely to get that much doing anything else. I've a non-nursing degree: BA Hons first class from a good uni in 2004. I'm 50 with a family so long periods of training are out of the question, as is lengthy full-time training and jobs where age is, officially or unofficially, a barrier.
I don't want sales (tried it, didn't enjoy it, failed miserably) or target based work. I don't want to teach kids; adults maybe but not in FE.
I'd definitely consider self-employment/contract work as well as employed positions.
I've considered paying for training in hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, CBT, counselling, alternative medicine etc, though sorting out the cowboys can be difficult and it can take years to get genuine qualifications. I've also considered book keeping, ILEX, TEFL, trying to get a trade: plumbing, electrician etc though again it can take a long time and I reckon my age is definitely against me - plus I need to be earning, let's say, 20k from the start. I'm not quitting my job so re-training would need to run alongside it, or be short.
So I guess what I'm after is employment which either makes use of my qualifications, or would at least consider them to be worthy of offering work, but isn't nursing.
Any ideas?

IAPT - are there any trainee positions in your trust?

clairec79

NHS Direct? They employ nurses but I wouldn't say they are nursing

Croatoan

LittleVoice wrote: »

IAPT - are there any trainee positions in your trust?

I work full-time agency so I'm not in a trust.

LL30

CAMHS Tier 2/3? Relates to your current job but not in a nursing capacity.

Croatoan

clairec79 wrote: »

NHS Direct? They employ nurses but I wouldn't say they are nursing

I've considered this but vacancies are few and far between.

Ditto for the university work. But again, would consider this.

Croatoan

LL30 wrote: »

CAMHS Tier 2/3? Relates to your current job but not in a nursing capacity.

I have to admit CAMHS work has never really appealed to me.
In fact the MH work I enjoy the most is elderly, functional and organic.

LL30

Croatoan wrote: »

I have to admit CAMHS work has never really appealed to me.
In fact the MH work I enjoy the most is elderly, functional and organic.

Definitely not for you then! I've just finished a stint there and loved it, but it's not for everyone. Good luck with your search!

Joe_L

Hi Croatoan
I know this thread is old, but I see you still post here and was wondering how you got on with a career change.

I'm in the same boat (50+ trained as an RMN in my 40's) though I've now not worked worked for a while. I hit a wall with nursing, almost to point of a phobia, and now don't really know what to do. I always got on well with patients and was generally considered a good nurse, but I hated the politics and bureaucracy that went with the job.

Croatoan

Joe_L wrote: »

Hi Croatoan
I know this thread is old, but I see you still post here and was wondering how you got on with a career change.

I'm in the same boat (50+ trained as an RMN in my 40's) though I've now not worked worked for a while. I hit a wall with nursing, almost to point of a phobia, and now don't really know what to do. I always got on well with patients and was generally considered a good nurse, but I hated the politics and bureaucracy that went with the job.

Unsurprisingly perhaps I'm still stuck in the same job. It's difficult: bills to pay and so on and because I work only agency the money, for nursing, is pretty good and in these austere times perhaps I shouldn't be complaining. I don't think I could go back to being a "proper" nurse though. As you say, the politics, the low morale, poor management and everything else people complain about when I work their units would do for me. At least I get to choose what hours I work, what holidays I take and what wards/units I work on and I never have to get involved in the backbiting and politics.
I'd still like to get out of nursing though, and would do if something came along that I think I'd enjoy. I remain open to suggestions
Perhaps if it is the politics side of nursing you hate, agency work might be easier for you, Joe? Not that it doesn't have its downsides I admit.